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Ulster quick to silence their hosts

Outplayed on the pitch and outsung in the stands, Edinburgh ensured Fortress Murrayfields new dawn merely highlighted old failings. By Neil Drysdale

December 21 2003, 12:00am, The Sunday Times

Frankly, however, there was plenty for them to be quiet about for most of this contest, on a filthy day, when Ulster added the trophy to their stock of silverware, before a crowd of 17,174, of whom at least 40% must have been Irish. The bagpipers may have performed at the start, but there was merely lamentation at the death, and if this was an early indication of the new “fortress Scotland” philosophy, as espoused by Matt Williams, then the ramparts look built on as treacherous foundations as the House of Usher.

It was a strange affair, in that Ulster had amassed a decisive advantage before the Scots woke up and launched a stirring recovery with the cause apparently lost. But whilst tries from Simon…